Description
- Abstract:
- The Brown family's enterprises included a chandlery, where spermaceti, oil harvested from the headmatter of whales, was manufactured into bright-burning, smokeless candles. Labor demands in the chandlery fluctuated with the season, and the Browns often relied on slaves to supplement the workforce of free laborers. Moses Brown's decision to manumit his slaves in 1773 disrupted this arrangement. In this contract, dated August 4, 1776, the four Brown brothers agreed not to employ slaves at the works, except during peak periods, when necessary to "get the stock out." In such cases, the four brothers agreed, Moses could supply his quota of additional workers with free rather than enslaved laborers.
Access Conditions
- Rights
- No Copyright - United States
- Restrictions on Use
- Collection is open for research.
Citation
Brown, Nicholas,
"Manumission Document:
November 1, 1779
"
(1779).
Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice, Voyage of the Sally.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:303147/
Relations
Collections:
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Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice
An archive of a wide array of historical documents, from the records of slaving voyages to student commencement orations, digitized in support of the work of the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice. The collection contains over one hundred …... -
Voyage of the Sally
...Documentary evidence of the first slave trading voyage sponsored by the Brown brothers of Providence, RI. This project arose from the work of the Brown University Committee on Slavery and Justice, led by James Campbell. The committee investigated the contributions …